Ang Pompano: From time to time, I bring a friend into the kitchen to cook with me. It is always one of my favorite parts of the blog. Today’s friend is extra special. She’s my best friend and wife, Annette Cicarelli Pompano. We’ve teamed up in our kitchen to tackle a classic, and with names like Ang and Annette, you probably already guessed what we’re making: Anginette cookies!
Anginetti (singular: anginette) are traditional Italian cookies, and Annette is the undisputed anginetti queen of our family. She bakes them for holidays and special celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, weddings, just about any occasion, simply by changing the color of the frosting. Christmas? Red and green. Easter? Pastels. A wedding? White. A baby shower… well, you get the idea.
Family and friends love Annette’s anginetti so much that they encouraged her to enter the local Anginette Wars, where bakers compete not only for the best anginette recipe but also for the most creative display. Being a painter, Annette chose the theme A Painter’s Palette and even created a Starry Night display using anginetti.
What makes Annette’s anginetti truly unforgettable is her secret ingredient: ricotta cheese. It keeps every cookie light, soft, and irresistible.
Cookie Ingredients
- 1 cup softened butter (2 sticks)
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 (15-oz) container ricotta cheese
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 cups flour
- 2 tbsp baking powder
Cookie Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the ricotta cheese, vanilla, and eggs until well combined.
- On low mixer speed, add the baking powder and flour, one cup at a time.
- Mix just until a soft dough forms.
- Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.
- Roll into balls about 1½–2 inches in diameter.
8. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, or until set but not browned.
- 1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons milk (or water)
- Food coloring
Frosting Instructions
- Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and milk until smooth.
- Adjust consistency with additional milk, ½ teaspoon at a time, until thick but pourable.
- Add food coloring a few drops at a time until desired color is reached.
- Spoon or drizzle frosting over cooled cookies; allow to set before serving. Sprinkles optional.
- Freeze extras unfrosted in zip-top bags until ready to use.
Pro tip: Perfect for leaving out for Santa on Christmas Eve!
Now that you’ve read the recipe, be sure to watch Annette’s YouTube video here where she walks you through each step.
It’s not just instructional—it’s downright funny. Annette even sneaks in a few lines from her old stand-up routines, making the whole experience as entertaining as it is delicious.
What’s your secret ingredient for making cookies unforgettable?
Comment below and share your tip, then leave your email to enter the drawing for Annette’s memoir, It’s Better to Raise Tomatoes: At Least You Can Eat Them—a tender story of summers at her grandmother’s cottage, told through the eyes of a ten-year-old girl longing for a baby sister. Includes many family recipes!
Annette Cicarelli Pompano is a painter, writer, creator of cooking videos, and former stand-up comedian. She brings creativity, humor, and a love of family traditions to everything she does—from her vibrant artwork to her unforgettable anginetti cookies. Annette shares her passion for food and family through her YouTube cooking videos, where she combines step-by-step instruction with her signature humor. Her memoir, It’s Better to Raise Tomatoes: At Least You Can Eat Them, tells the story of her childhood summers at her grandmother’s cottage, blending humor, heart, and nostalgia in every page.
At Least You Can Eat Them
Ang Pompano is a mystery author, editor, publisher and blogger. He writes the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency, and the Reluctant Food Columnist series, both published by Level Best Books. In addition to his writing, Ang is a co-founder of Crime Spell Books and serves as co-editor of the Best New England Crime Stories anthology. He blogs about food on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, an artist, and their two rescue dogs, Dexter and Alfie.o
When It’s Time for Leaving by Ang Pompano
Al DeLucia walked away from the police—and his past. But when his long-lost father leaves him a detective agency in Savannah, Al finds himself trapped between family secrets and a murder on the agency’s dock. Partnered with Maxine Brophy, a fierce detective who doesn’t trust him, Al is pulled into a deadly search through Savannah and the Okefenokee Swamp—where the truth about the case, and his father, may cost him everything.
Blood Ties and Deadly Lies by Ang Pompano
Al DeLucia returns to Sachem Creek expecting a kayak race and a chance to confront his childhood bully, Abe Cromwell. Instead, he finds a dead lawyer, a web of deceit, and Abe claiming they’re brothers by DNA. Reluctantly joined by Maxine Brophy, his formidable partner and girlfriend, Al dives into a murder investigation that exposes land swindles, hidden maps, and buried family secrets. In a town where the past won’t stay buried, Al must face truths that could upend everything.
Coming in January: Diet of Death
the first in the Reluctant Food Columnist series.
Betty Ann Green is a beloved culinary icon…who doesn’t exist. She is the brilliant, beautiful illusion created by two unlikely collaborators. Behind the façade is Quincy Lazzaro, a culinarily challenged writer whose witty, sharp prose is the public face of Betty, while those flawless, genius recipes are all thanks to his octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli.
When the arrogant diet guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, inventor of the Westport Diet, demands a face-to-face interview, Quincy reluctantly steps in as Betty’s frontman, only for Tolzer to drop dead. The police call it natural causes, but Quincy knows better. He sees it as the investigative break he’s been waiting for.
Now, caught between a crime-solving grandma, a no-nonsense detective girlfriend, and a killer who may be one step ahead, Quincy must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.
Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025
Edited by Christine Bagley, Susan Oleksiw, Ang Pompano, and Leslie Wheeler
Readers often root for criminals in fiction—and sometimes in real life—for reasons ranging from a hunger for justice to the thrill of getting away with something daring, and the stories in this anthology explore those impulses with wit and depth. Across contemporary, historical, and psychological tales, writers examine moral ambiguity, conscience, and choice through sharp twists, memorable characters, and satisfying reveals, whether the focus is on women navigating power and technology, villains who unsettle us, or protagonists who emerge wiser from hard lessons. Together, these stories demonstrate a shared confidence in complex narrators and unexpected turns, leaving readers both entertained and thoughtful. Welcome to crime in 2025.
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